Un-bear-able: Lex defense stifles Yellow Jackets

Fans from both schools tossed 448 stuffed animals for children on the floor to be after the first quarter of Friday’s game at Lexington with Mount Vernon.
Jon Spencer, Reporter

LEXINGTON - You get to decide which number is more impressive.

Is it the 448 stuffed animals that flooded the basketball court during the Teddy Bear Toss for charity at the end of the first quarter Friday night at Lexington High School?

Or is it the 245 points stingy Lex has allowed during a winning streak that reached six games with Friday's 66-33 romp over Mount Vernon?

There's no wrong answer.

The night belonged to teddy bears and those grizzly bears on defense.

One moment the atmosphere was heartwarming. The next, if you were the Yellow Jackets, it was suffocating.

The Minutemen (10-3, 5-1 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference) have now held their last three OCC opponents under 40 points. They are tied atop the OCC in the loss column with Mansfield Senior (10-2, 6-1), which was held to 39 points by Lex seven days earlier.

"Coach tells us defense isn't talent; it's effort. And we all agree with that."

Buy Photo

Fans from both schools threw stuffed animals on the basketball court at the end of the first quarter in Friday night's game at Lexington with Mount Vernon. The Teddy Bear Toss was staged to support children in need.(Photo: Brian J. Smith/News Journal)

Making Friday's performance even more impressive is that Lex was without one of its top defenders and rebounders in senior Josh Aiello. He was diagnosed with mono on Thursday.

"It''s not just a 'next man up' mentality," Hamilton said. "Everybody has to step up because when you lose somebody that's an eighth or ninth man, OK, that's 'next man up.' But when you lose a starter, getting 20-plus minutes a night, it might not just be one guy who replaces him."

It wasn't.

Nick Stehle, getting his first start in place of Aiello, scored Lex's first basket on a tip-in and by the end of the game was 4 for 4 from the field for 8 points, with 2 rebounds and 3 assists in 14 minutes.

Berry was another guy who stepped up in Aiello's absence, popping off the bench and immediately going into attack mode. He never took his foot off the gas, finishing 3 for 3 from the floor and complementing his 8 points with 2 rebounds and 3 assists in nearly 20 minutes.

"It hit us (Thursday) night Josh wasn't going to be with us, so we knew it would be the 'next man up' mentality," Stehle said. "We got a spark out there, got on a run and just kept going. Coach said it was one of our best all-around efforts of the year."

It certainly topped what happened in early December as Mount Vernon handed Lex its only OCC loss 55-48 in The Hive. Since then, the Minutemen have won 9 of 10.

"We came in with a chip on our shoulder," Stehle said.

When he was told he now leads all starters in Ohio in field goal percentage (at 100 percent), Stehle laughed.

Speaking of the junior varsity, 6-4 junior Max Waldruff sat out Friday's early game to help the shorthanded varsity. He responded by making all three of his shots from the field, one on a beautiful feed from the wing by Cade Stover.

If you've been paying attention, that made Stehle, Berry and Waldruff a combined 10 for 10 from the field.

Part of their exploits, along with 20 points from Stover and 12 from Kyle Johnston (they were a combined 13 of 21 shooting), can be attributed to the 14-4 edge Lex enjoyed in assists. Teamwork, when it came to finding the open man, was exceptional.

As a result, Lex shot 66 percent from the floor (27 of 41).

The game was still reasonably close (34-23) in the third quarter when a Stover bucket in the paint triggered a 10-0 run. Johnston had five straight points during that spurt, capped by Berry's and-one.

"I know my role on this team is to dish to other players and get to the hoop," Berry said. "Our bench players (including guard Danny Shaffer, who had 5 points in 9 minutes) really stepped up tonight. We came in, we executed and we did the game plan our coaches gave us."

If the game plan was to hold Mount Vernon to 22 fewer points than the first time around, mission accomplished. Noah Gleason had 13 points for Mount Vernon (6-8, 3-4) in its win, but did not play in the rematch. Connor Fisher led the Jackets this time with 11.

"I think we have the guys believing (defense) is where our game has to start," said Hamilton, whose team had 8 steals and 4 blocked shots. "We hear (opponents) say in the paper, 'Well, we didn't shoot the ball well tonight.' We tell our guys that's because of what you did out there. We made it tough for them to shoot.

"When you come down the floor and a team has a couple of empty possessions, that just sort of builds, especially since we've been more efficient at the offensive end."

When Aiello comes back, likely in a couple of weeks, the Minutemen will start gearing for the stretch run. Berry could be a big help after sitting out all of last year and then beginning this season on the mend from a broken hand.

"I came back for my teammates," Berry said. "We all get along; we have a special bond.

"I wanted to focus on football (last winter) and didn't think I'd play basketball again. But here I am, and I'm glad I did. I know there can always be more, but I'm getting there."